The Study Of Translation As A Medium And Its Functional Mechanism

The function of translation as a medium can date back to its very beginning since people begin to translate in ancient timess and the nature of translation lies in its role as a bridge to alien cultures since it is people’s urgent need to communicate that brings about the existence of translation. Translation is basically a communication medium. However, the systematic study of translation as a medium is limited in Mesologie---one of the three parts in influence study in comparative literature proposed by the French school. The study of translation as a medium is merely a small chapter in the textbooks about comparative literature and this is discussed from mainly two aspects:the translator as a medium and the translated text as a medium. Based on the discussion about translation as a medium in Mesologie, Xie Tianzhen puts forward a new branch of translation study---mediotranslatology, aiming to study translation from the perspective of comparative literature.The author believes that as the scope of translation is being extended and the focus is shifting from the inner text elements to the external factors, the study of translation as a medium in Mesologie is too limited. In the meantime, the research emphasis in mediotranslatology is on the outcome that translation has brought as a medium rather than the process study in Mesologie. Xie’s study is mostly about the variation that the literature text has experienced by means of translation. Given the above opinion, this thesis aims to study translation medium in the perspective of Mesologie. By referring to the characteristics of translation as a medium and the patterns and models in Mesologie in comparative literature study, a comparatively comprehensive study pattern of translation as a medium is expected to be explored, not only from the translator and the translated text, but also from the external factors such as the translation team, the communication media and the social and cultural setting.